Thanksgiving dinner assignments from "headquarters" arrived by electronic mail early in the week. The yearly assignment email tethers itself to the same type of suspense as the big present tucked behind the Christmas tree. Just like putting on a happy face when the big gift turns out to be a vacuum cleaner, polite acceptance of one's Thanksgiving dinner assignment demonstrates good upbringing.

Several years ago I attended a different kind of Thanksgiving program. Instead of telling what we were most thankful for, we were asked to name something we were thankful we did not have. This novel idea has become a Thanksgiving habit of mine ever since.

With Hurricane Matthew bearing down on the East Coast, it seems timely to think about our planning for natural disasters. Natural disasters can destroy your personal property and severely impair your ability to conduct financial transactions. If you had only a few minutes to evacuate your home, and had to be away for several days or weeks, would you have access to cash, banking services and the personal identification documents you would need to support your family?

August marks the 20th anniversary of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This bipartisan welfare reform legislation signed by President Bill Clinton on Aug. 22, 1996, dramatically transformed the nation’s welfare system, implementing strong welfare-to-work requirements and incentivizing states to transition welfare recipients into work.

The law, which created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and replaced the 61-year-old Aid to Families with Dependent Children, also implemented stricter food stamp regulations.

Over the next several weeks, more than 1.7 million students will walk through the doors of Georgia’s public schools. Some of those students are kindergartners just starting their journey. Others are high school seniors almost ready to take the next step. They’ll be welcomed by more than 113,000 dedicated teachers.

I want to take a moment to personally welcome every one of our students and teachers back to school. I offer my best wishes to each of you for a safe, successful year of learning.

Just as the Supreme Court thought it had resolved the abortion debate 44 years ago, so apparently Gov. Nathan Deal thought he had put to bed the religious-freedom issue with his veto of the Free Exercise Protection Act (FEPA) on Easter Monday. But Georgians of faith – many of them Republicans – are reacting with righteous indignation to the governor’s surrender to the forces of intimidation.

And as the governor grows more defensive, he strays further and further from the truth.